Distant Finale
by Mogatrat
Summary: Eight hundred years after the Reaper War, two asari scientists discover an old contingency plan.
Khana stepped down into the small excavation, looking over what they'd found. A few white pillars, broken off at their tips, and a couple discs stacked in the center of the dig site. She ran a hand over her scalp, brushing a few bits of dust from the ends of the tentacles. She turned around, looking up at the purple-hued asari behind her, who stood with her hands on her hips.

"I don't know why she thinks it's worth looking at this one again," Khana said with a shrug. "Barely found anything the first time."

"Well, what the Matriarch says goes," her companion said, hopping down into the excavation. "Let's do a quick inventory."

The two of them split up, scouring the site for anything that looked usable. Aside from the pillars and the disks, nothing stood out - until Khana caught a glimpse of something far too regular to be a rock. She knelt down and brushed dirt off what appeared to be the corner of a black cube. "Hey, Emily. Come check this out," she said, opening her omni-tool and manipulating the buttons on her wrist. As the other asari approached, a blue beam swept over the object.

"What is it?" Emily asked.

"It's not Prothean, that's for sure. Says it's only about eight hundred years old - around the time of the Reaper War," Khana said. She examined the area around the stuck-out corner. "Huh. Yeah, look at this - see the marks where this was stuffed in here? They must've left it when they blacked out this station."

"Well, it's something," Emily said. "Can you pull it out?"

"Just a sec." Khana closed the haptic interface and stepped back. "Let's just see if I can get a handle on its dimensions..." She held out a hand, and flared up with blue energy. She clenched her hand into a fist and pulled back, and the object flew out of the earth and directly into her stomach, sending her reeling backward.

"So I take it you got high marks in Biotics," Emily said as Khana staggered backward, wheezing. She walked towards the curious black box and picked it up, running a hand over the small half-sphere indentation in the center.

A bright white ball suddenly popped up there, shouting a cheerful, "Hello!" Emily let out a small scream and dropped it. The ball swiveled in its casing to look up at her. "You are an asari. Did you survive the reaping then?" it asked.

"I, uh, wasn't around for it," she said, rubbing the back of her neck.

Khana finally regained herself and stood up tall. "Dignified, Emily."

"Shut up, it was surprising," Emily replied, kneeling down to look at the VI. "What are you?'

"I am Glyph. I was designed to guide the next cycle to defeat the Reapers. Do you know about the Reapers?" it asked.

"We killed them. I'm named after the human who stopped them," Emily explained.

"Well, I suppose I don't need to exist, then. Shutting down," Glyph said happily.

"Wait, no!" Khana cried. Glyph swiveled to face her.

"Why? What information do you need from me?" Glyph asked.

"Who created you?" Khana asked. "And what information do you have?"

"I was created by the Shadow Broker, to share information on the Reapers, the Prothean construction known as the Crucible, as well as information on all civilizations and cultures of the cycle," Glyph explained. "Is there something you need from me?"

"Do you have anything else?" Khana asked.

"There is a message that the Shadow Broker intended for the next cycle only if they read through all of the information," Glyph said. "Would you like to see it?"

"Hold on for a second," Emily said, taking the box and lifting it up. "Let's get you somewhere where I can get a decent recording. Sun on this planet just loves to screw with video footage."

"Very well." Khana followed Emily into the small shuttle they'd used to get here, and sat down in the copilot's seat as she placed Glyph upon the dashboard. Emily opened her omni-tool interface.

"Since we know all of the information, we get the message, right?" Emily asked.

"That would be an unintended loophole, but it is acceptable. Playing message," Glyph said. It receded into the indentation, and in his place, an asari in white appeared. She wrung her hands nervously.

"Is that-" Khana began, but Emily shushed her.

"By now, you must have read the entries on Emily Shepard, the woman who warned the galaxy of the Reapers. If you're hearing this, you must think she was a failure," the asari said, a nervous tremor in her voice. "She told me to just be honest, and I was, but there are things I want to share, things the galaxy should know. I couldn't put all of this into her main entry, it'd be distracting, but the galaxy has to know who she really was. And...who I am."

"I'm telling you, that's-" Khana began again.

"Shut up and listen!" Emily hissed.

"My name is Liara T'Soni, and I love Commander Shepard," the hologram said.

"Told you! I _knew-_ "

"Quiet!"

"She was more than just the history I gave you here," Liara continued, "more than the one who made me the Shadow Broker, more than the woman who stopped Sovereign and the Geth. She was...beautiful, and kind, and when she talked, the galaxy listened. She broke through Saren's indoctrination. She forged an alliance between species that hated each other for a thousand years...but I guess that's in the main entry." Liara cleared her throat, and looked at something offscreen. "She...she never doubted me, even for a second. Never even thought about finding someone to take my place, even when I abandoned her for some stupid revenge fantasy. She saved my life more times than I could count."

"She's also human. She still suffers from the wounds at Virmire, still drives herself crazy when she can't save everyone. She still has nightmares about Earth, about Thane, about her friends on Mindoir and Akuze. She's not perfect, and I don't know if she'll succeed. I guess if you're hearing this...she didn't."

"But I know that she won't stop trying until she dies. If you're hearing this, then she died trying to stop the Reapers, and that can't be a failure. She'll never give in, never surrender, never compromise with the Reaper threat. She's seen too much of Saren and Cerberus. I guess that's what this is about. I'm telling you, model yourself after her. Never allow yourself to forget about indoctrination, never think that this is an enemy you can broker peace with."

"I only ask that you remember the woman I love, and honor her sacrifice."

Liara's image retreated back into the indentation. Glyph reappeared.

"Is there anything else you need?" it asked.

"No...no, thank you," Emily said.

"Very well. Shutting down."

The two asari sat in silence for a few moments. The dashboard lit up, a repetitive _ping_ filling the cockpit. Emily reached over and touched a small, flashing circle.

"Did you find anything useful?" the voice on the call asked. The two asari looked to each other.

"N-no, Matriarch T'Soni. It looks like it's as empty as the old records say."


End file.
